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J^IST 


A D DR  ESS 

/ ' DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


CONFEDERATE 


SURVIVORS’  ASSOCIATION, 

IN 

Augusta,  Georgia, 

AT  ITS  FOURTH  ANNUAL  MEETING,  ON  MEMORIAL  DAY. 


APRIL  26th,  1882, 

BY  . ^ 

COL.  CHARLES  C.  JONES,  Jr. 

\ , ■ ■ . ^ ■ 

PRESIDENT  GF  THE  ASSOCIATION.  -L 


PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


. > 


AUGUSTA,  GA. 

Jas.  L.  Gow,  Printer  & Stationer. 
rC  ■ -1882. 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 

CONFEDERATE 

SURVIVORS’  ASSOCIATION, 


Augusta,  Georgia, 

AT  ITS  FOURTH  ANNUAL  MEETING,  ON  MEMORIAL  DAY. 

APRIL  26th,  1882, 


COL.  CHARLES  C.  JONES,  Jr. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


AUGUSTA,  GA. 

.Jas.  L.  Gow,  Printer  & Stationer. 
18S2. 


4 


The  turbid  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  overleaping  the  barriers 
which  the  labor  of  generations  had  reared  for  the  protection  of 
vast  areas  devoted  to  the  production  of  some  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive crops  which  minister  to  the  wealth  and  coriifort  of  this  land, 
have  caused  wide-spread  ruin  and  desolation,  bearing  upon  their 
unruly  bosom  to  the  sea  of  gloom  and  disappointment  the  hopes 
and  the  accumulations  of  years  of  thrift  and  intelligent  in- 
dustry. 

The  seas,  angered  beyond  their  wont,  have  strewn  their  watery 
plains  and  echoing  shores  with  many  a silent  wreck. 

The  pest,  too,  in  localities  numerous  and  unused  to  its  devas- 
tations, has  lifted  its  unholy  head,  affrighting  the  living  and 
beckoning  multitudes  to  the  regions  of  the  dead. 

Nihilism,  godless  and  iconoclastic,  has  been  dominating  in 
certain  realms  to  the  terror  and  doom  of  monarchs  and  the  dis- 
quietude of  the  body  politic. 

Ill-advised  and  perplexing  antagonisms  between  labor  and 
capital  have,  in  some  parts  of  this  land,  robbed  existence  of  that 
repose  and  of  those  rewards  which  are  born  of  contentment  and 
of  the  harmonious  adjustment  of  the  economic  relations  of  life. 

At  other  points,  huge  monopolies  and  the  acquisition  of  inor- 
dinate wealth  by  a few  individuals  have  proven  the  prolific 
causes  of  financial  unrest,  and  of  the  demomlization  of  values 
hitherto  well  ascertained. 

Dwelling  in  a peaceful,  law-abiding  community,  not  too  large 
to  ignore  the  personal  responsibility  of  individual  membership, 
nor  so  small  that  it  should  readily  be  persuaded  save  in  the 
paths  of  rectitude,  honesty  and  honor,  we  have  thus  far  escaped 
the  evils  incident  to  an  overgrown  population,  and  have  not  yet 
been  annoyed  by  the  overshadowing  and  sometimes  deleterious 
influences  of  colossal  fortunes.  Despite  this  happy  exemption, 
we,  nevertheless,  have  our  own  clangers,  cares,  troubles,  burthens, 
and  perplexities.  By  them  are  we  admonished  to  the  cultivation 
and  exhibition  of  virtue,  consistency,  unity,  and  true  manhood. 
Through  fiery  furnaces  have  we  passed  in  the  cause  of  truth  and 
honor.  Let  us  not,  in  the  living  present,  fail  to  remember  that 

“ When  our  souls  shall  leave  this  dwelling, 

The  glory  of  one  fair  and  virtuous  action 
Is  above  all  the  scutcheons  on  our  tomb, 

Or  silken  banners  over  us.’^ 


5 


While,  during  the  past  year,  we  have  observed  our  stated 
assemblages,  maintained  our  organization,  cherished  our  friend- 
ships, and  ministered  to  our  sick,  we  have,  alas!  also  been  called 
upon  to  mourn  our  dead. 

Since  our  last  anniversary,  five  of  our  number  have  been  sum- 
moned hence : 

Private  Robert  Elliott,  of  the  Washington  Artillery; 

Captain  M.  T.  McGregor,  of  Company  C,  First  Regiment, 
Georgia  Regulars ; 

Sergeant  0.  M.  Harris,  of  Company  I,  Third  Regiment,  Georgia 
Infantry ; 

Private  J.  R.  Glover,  of  Company  I,  Twelfth  Georgia  Battal- 
ion of  Infantry,  and 

Private  E.  W.  Haley. 

Thus  is  the  pruning  knife  of  time  cutting  down  our  compan- 
ions one  by  one.  With  the  present  generation  expires  our  Asso- 
ciation, for  the  bond  which  unites  us  was  born  of  the  past  and 
cannot  be  renewed  in  the  future.  They  are  already  in  life 
who  will  look  upon  the  last  survivor,  in  loneliness  and  feeble- 
ness tottering  onward  to  his  final  home. 

“ But  now  he  walks  the  streets, 

And  he  looks  at  all  he  meets 
So  forlorn ; 

And  he  shakes  his  feeble  head, 

That  it  seems  as  if  he  said. 

They  are  gone. 

“ The  mossy  marbles  rest 
On  the  lips  that  he  has  pressed 
In  their  bloom ; 

And  the  names  he  loved  to  hear 
Have  been  carved  for  many  a year 
On  the  tomb.” 

There  is  a deal  of  pathos,  my  friends,  in  this  vision  ; and  come 
it  must,  in  obedience  to  an  inexorable  law.  Until  it  does  appear, 
hoAvever,  let  us  rejoice  in  our  manhood,  cling  to  our  friendships, 
and  stand  by  the  memories  and  the  glories  of  the  former  times. 

While  our  pecuniary  obligations  have  all  been  promptly  met, 
and  there  exists  a balance  to  the  credit  of  the  Association,  I 
cannot,  in  justice,  refrain  from  saying  that  if  all  our  members 


€ 


who  are  capable  of  responding  to  their  quarterly  dues  were 
regular  in  the  payment  of  them,  our  financial  condition  would 
be  far  more  satisfactory,  Permit  me  to  remind  you  that  these 
quarterly  dues,  small  as  they  are,  constitute  our  only  source  of 
revenue,  and  that  the  funds  thus  derived  are  pledged  for  the 
relief  of  members  in  seasons  of  distress,  and  for  the  defrayal  of 
the  funeral  expenses  of  those  whose  limited  means  may  not 
fairly  be  appropriated  in  that  behalf.  The  bare  statement  of 
this  fact  should,  of  itself,  suffice  to  stimulate  the  tardy  and  con- 
firm the  willing. 

A new  feature  has  of  late  been  introduced  which  must  largely 
increase  the  interest  felt  in  our  quarterly  assemblages.  At  each 
meeting  a committee  is  nominated,  charged  with  the  duty  of 
selecting  from  out  our  membership  those  who,  at  the  next  con- 
vocation, after  the  routine  business  is  concluded,  will  contribute 
recitations,  readings,  and  personal  reminiscences  illustrative  of 
war  memories.  Thus  will  the  portraits  of  our  Confederate  chief- 
tains be  taken  down  from  the  walls  of  history  and  be  set  up 
again  in  our  midst  for  our  unchanging  love  and  admiration. 
Thus  will  achievements  in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  and  upon 
the  field  of  battle,  be  renewed  in  our  cherished  recollection. 
Thus  shall  scenes  and  incidents  live  anew  which  are  already 
enshrouded  by  the  mists  of  intervening  years.  Thus  will  asso- 
ciations, than  which  none  more  potent  appertain  to  manly  hearts, 
be  revived,  acknowledged,  and  cemented. 

The  most  noted  act  done  under  the  auspices  of  this  Associa- 
tion since  our  last  annual  meeting  embraced  the  suitable  repair 
and  dedication  of  the  Obelisk  Chimney  of  the  Confederate 
Powder  Works.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  yielding  to  our 
solicitation,  the  City  Council  of  Augusta,  nearly  three  years 
agone,  committed  this  structure — with  a reservation  of  ten  feet 
each  way  around  its  base — to  our  custody,  to  be  inscribed  and 
perpetuated  as  a Confederate  Memorial.  The  committee  en- 
trusted with  the  execution  of  the  wish  of  this  Association  has 
discharged  its  duty.  The  square  castellated  base  from  which  the 
Obelisk  springs  has  been  thoroughly  repaired  and  encased  in  a 
most  durable  covering  rese.mbling  granite.  The  corners  have 
been  well  guarded,  and  in  the  face,  looking  toward  the  canal,  has 
been  ' inserted  a large  tablet  of- Italian  marble,  bearing,  in  raised 
' letters,  this  inscription  : 


7 


“ This  Obelisk  Ohimkey — sole  remhant  of  the  exteh- 
siYE  Powder  Works  here  erected  under  the  auspices  of 
THE  Confederate  Government — is,  by  the  Confederate 
Survivors’  Association  of  Augusta,  with  the  consent  of 
THE  City  Council,  conserved  in  honor  of  a fallen 
Nation,  and  inscribed  to  the  memory  of  those  who  died 
IN  THE  Southern  armies  during  the  war  between  the 
States.” 

Thus  renovated,  thus  individualized,  and  thus  dedicated,  this 
colossal  cenotaph — standing  apart  from  the  massive  structures 
which  cluster  about  it  certifying  the  mechanical  industries  and 
the  enterprise  of  the  present — perpetuates  the  heroic  memories 
of  the  days  that  are  gone,  and  keeps  its  sentinel  watch  over  the 
unseen  graves  alike  of  the  Confederacy  and  of  those  who  per- 
ished in  its  support. 

Although  it  be  true  that  “oblivion  is  not  to  be  hired;” 
although,  as  Sir  Thomas  Browne  has  wisely  spoken,  the  greater 
part  must  be  content  to  be  as  though  they  had  not  been ; to  be 
found,  in  the  register  of  God,  not  in  the  record  of  man  ; although 
the  night  of  time  far  surpasseth  the  day ; although  age  itself, 
grown  antiquated,  bids  us  hope  for  no  long  duration,  and  all 
experience  shows  that  diuturnity  is  a dream  and  the  folly  of 
expectation ; although  pyramids,  arches,  monuments,  and  all 
human  structures  wrestle  but  in  vain  with  the  inevitable  influ- 
ences of  decay ; in  the  teeth  of  this  consuming  fate  we  commis- 
sion this  Obelisk  to  witness  to  the  present  and  the  coming  genera- 
tions the  fair  fame  and  the  glories  of  a once  puissant  Nation  and 
the  brave  deeds  of  those  who  fell  in  the  armies  of  the  South ; 
well  knowing  that  when  it  shall  pass  away,  the  virtuous  memo- 
ries which  it  symbolizes  will  survive  in  that  Pantheon  where 
truth  and  honor  and  right  have  flxed  their  eternal  homes. 


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